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<div class="itg-mosimage"><amp-img src="https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fakm-img-a-in.tosshub.com%2Fsites%2Fmedia2%2Findiatoday%2Fimages%2Fstories%2F2011May%2Fprassana_042311123331.jpg" alt="" height="425" width="650" class="" layout="responsive"></amp-img><p>When Russia was crawling out of the wreckage of communism, the late Alexander Solzhenitsyn, from the bucolic remoteness of his exile in Vermont, US, came out with a polemical screed prescribing what his much benighted homeland should do to regain its Slavic soul. In Rebuilding Russia, the great writer and the 20th century's most famous literary exile ranted like a medieval prophet. His contempt for the communist nomenklatura was quite understandable, but the enemy of freedom he found most dangerous was democracy. "Political activity is by no means the principal mode of human life, and politics is hardly the most sought-after enterprise for the majority of the people," he wrote.</p><p>In Solzhenitsyn's alternative, elections do not "represent a quest for truth", and "professional politicians must not be allowed to substitute their voices for the voice of the nation". In his ideal Russia where the right of the citizen would be subordinated to the spirit of the citizen, "all professional expertise will be provided by a pool of public employees". And most important: "the process of governing will inevitably entail an admixture of the aristocratic and even monarchical modes." Translation: the lofty few will take care of the masses who are not worthy of a say in the complicated affairs of the state. Solzhenitsyn returned to me when the revolutionaries retreated from Delhi's Jantar Mantar and took their seats in the more comfortable committee rooms of the government. The enlightened minority who has taken upon itself the historic task of cleansing corrupt India and restoring morality and justice in governance shares a trait with the Russian: contempt for democracy. Contempt steeped in self-righteousness.</p><p>Many would argue, rightly so, that an Anna Hazare in his starched khadi and Gandhi topi smiling into the camera is more desirable a sight than a robotic prime minister with the conviction of a hologram talking to us on governance. But Hazare's Jantar Mantar "uprising" was not just against corruption. It wanted to end corruption. Or more aptly, Hazare and his Sancho Panzas would themselves end corruption-and keep the discredited politicians at bay. It's a wonderful idea, an exhilarating one, but only in the mind of the revolutionary. In a liberal, constitutional democracy, it is a crazy idea. When has civil society become a concept incompatible with political institutions? When has "We, the People" become independent of parliament in a country where, let's admit it, Jantar Mantar is not Tahrir Square, or Wenceslas Square, or Tiananmen Square.</p><p>Not yet. The fundamental flaw of the impending Lokpal, Hazare's magic formula for containing corruption, is that it puts faith in a few good fellows-the enlightened few-and shows utter disregard for the institutions of democracy. It is the power of protest that sustains freedom, and the cap Hazare, India's newest redeemer at large, wears is a reminder of that. When 'Save India' is reduced to the placard glibness of a telegenic movement with professional cause junkies in the vanguard, that Gandhi cap on Anna Hazare looks totally out of place. It looks ridiculed.</p><div id="tab-link-wrapper-plugin"><div class="authors__container"><div class="authors__by"><div class="authlable">Published By: </div><div class="authdetaisl">AtMigration </div></div><div class="published__on"><div class="authlable">Published On: </div><div class="authdetaisl">Apr 22, 2011</div></div></div><div class="sendros">--- ENDS ---</div></div></div>

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<div class="itg-mosimage"><div class="itgimage"><img  title=""  class="" alt="" src="https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.dev?url=https%3A%2F%2Fakm-img-a-in.tosshub.com%2Fsites%2Fmedia2%2Findiatoday%2Fimages%2Fstories%2F2011May%2Fprassana_042311123331.jpg" loading="lazy" /></div><p>When Russia was crawling out of the wreckage of communism, the late Alexander Solzhenitsyn, from the bucolic remoteness of his exile in Vermont, US, came out with a polemical screed prescribing what his much benighted homeland should do to regain its Slavic soul. In Rebuilding Russia, the great writer and the 20th century's most famous literary exile ranted like a medieval prophet. His contempt for the communist nomenklatura was quite understandable, but the enemy of freedom he found most dangerous was democracy. "Political activity is by no means the principal mode of human life, and politics is hardly the most sought-after enterprise for the majority of the people," he wrote.</p><p>In Solzhenitsyn's alternative, elections do not "represent a quest for truth", and "professional politicians must not be allowed to substitute their voices for the voice of the nation". In his ideal Russia where the right of the citizen would be subordinated to the spirit of the citizen, "all professional expertise will be provided by a pool of public employees". And most important: "the process of governing will inevitably entail an admixture of the aristocratic and even monarchical modes." Translation: the lofty few will take care of the masses who are not worthy of a say in the complicated affairs of the state. Solzhenitsyn returned to me when the revolutionaries retreated from Delhi's Jantar Mantar and took their seats in the more comfortable committee rooms of the government. The enlightened minority who has taken upon itself the historic task of cleansing corrupt India and restoring morality and justice in governance shares a trait with the Russian: contempt for democracy. Contempt steeped in self-righteousness.</p><p>Many would argue, rightly so, that an Anna Hazare in his starched khadi and Gandhi topi smiling into the camera is more desirable a sight than a robotic prime minister with the conviction of a hologram talking to us on governance. But Hazare's Jantar Mantar "uprising" was not just against corruption. It wanted to end corruption. Or more aptly, Hazare and his Sancho Panzas would themselves end corruption-and keep the discredited politicians at bay. It's a wonderful idea, an exhilarating one, but only in the mind of the revolutionary. In a liberal, constitutional democracy, it is a crazy idea. When has civil society become a concept incompatible with political institutions? When has "We, the People" become independent of parliament in a country where, let's admit it, Jantar Mantar is not Tahrir Square, or Wenceslas Square, or Tiananmen Square.</p><p>Not yet. The fundamental flaw of the impending Lokpal, Hazare's magic formula for containing corruption, is that it puts faith in a few good fellows-the enlightened few-and shows utter disregard for the institutions of democracy. It is the power of protest that sustains freedom, and the cap Hazare, India's newest redeemer at large, wears is a reminder of that. When 'Save India' is reduced to the placard glibness of a telegenic movement with professional cause junkies in the vanguard, that Gandhi cap on Anna Hazare looks totally out of place. It looks ridiculed.</p><div id="tab-link-wrapper-plugin"><div class="authors__container"><div class="authors__by"><div class="authlable">Published By: </div><div class="authdetaisl">AtMigration </div></div><div class="published__on"><div class="authlable">Published On: </div><div class="authdetaisl">Apr 22, 2011</div></div></div><div class="sendros">--- ENDS ---</div></div></div>

When 'Save India' is reduced to the placard glibness of a telegenic movement with professional cause junkies in the vanguard, that Gandhi cap on Anna Hazare looks totally out of place.

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Anna Hazare and the fight against corruption

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Anna Hazare and the fight against corruption

When 'Save India' is reduced to the placard glibness of a telegenic movement with professional cause junkies in the vanguard, that Gandhi cap on Anna Hazare looks totally out of place.

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